I’M STANDING on a sprawling terrace above the dusk-painted Mediterranean where I’m about to learn everything there is to know about lemons.

Whoever knew that this humble, knobbly fruit held so much history, or carried so many uses besides adorning an ice-cool G&T?

I’m at a lemon farm in the hills just outside Sorrento, not because I particularly love lemons, but as one of seven guests staying at this old stone-fronted “agriturismo” (farm vacation lodgings) I’m keen to get a taste of authentic Italian living beyond the usual tourist menu of shopping and sightseeing.

We are trying a new G Adventures Local Living holiday, and that means not only staying with working lemon farmers here at Giardino di Vigliano, but learning to cook with lemons too.

“Follow me,” he says and we prise ourselves away from the sunset view over Ischia island and skedaddle down to the courtyard, past cats snoozing on stone steps, accompanied by the family’s dog, Lucky. And how lovely it is.

Ahead is a labyrinthine lemon grove where fruit-laden branches rise like Gothic arches in an ancient church.

As Luigi recounts the farm’s history, the whiff of sweet lemons suffuses the air and a fretwork of evening light filters down onto glossy green leaves.

Lemons have been cultivated on this spot since the plague-ridden 18th century, when monks from nearby Amalfi hit upon the fruit’s antiseptic properties.

Then followed the discovery of their culinary benefits and, by the 1930s, Sorrento lemons were so much in demand they even traded on the London stock market.

Louise enjoys a limoncello [LOUISE RODDON]

This farm is one of a handful still using traditional growing methods. Totally organic, with new trees grafted from ancient branches, the grove is roofed with raffia to protect the fruit from hail and frost.

Nowadays however, its 250 trees are primarily handpicked for limoncello production, the sweet liqueur that Italians like to drink at room temperature, rather than chilled.

“It’s the best way to judge the quality,” says Luigi, leading us back to the terrace with a bowlful of freshly picked fruit.

“Too cold, and all you taste is the alcohol.” Limoncello, we are about to discover, is incredibly easy to make, and we watch mesmerised as Luigi deftly peels seven lemons, dropping the skins into a litre of 98 per cent proof alcohol before adding water and sugar.

After 10 minutes, the liquid has already turned to sunshine yellow, but we must wait for our tasting treat until after supper.

Down in the homely tiled kitchen, Luigi’s mother Ida is handing out mounds of soft dough, and yes, you’ve guessed, we are about to make lemon pizzas in the family’s stone oven.

Lemon zest cuts the mozzarella’s richness, she tells us, and adds a distinctive and very pleasant flavour, but first I mimic Ida and swing my circle of dough in the air like a veritable discus thrower before dousing it with cheese, mushrooms and ham.

It takes a matter of minutes for my pizza to crisp to a glossy, gooey shine in the oven’s fierce heat, and jolly tasty it proves.

There is something very agreeable about staying in an agriturismo, a sense of being part of a new, highly likeable family, albeit on a temporary basis.

The crowded hotspots of the popular Amalfi coast are not for us. We have G Adventures’ insider guide Vivi to show us the region’s quieter side.

One day, we embark on a four-hour “Walk of the Gods” hike from the small town of Bormerano, all the way to Positano, climbing and descending dozens of stone steps and following cliff-hugging paths which overlook surf-bashed coves. Positano evokes special memories, since I got married here 20 years ago.

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When we finally arrive I’m happy to find it unchanged. Another day, and we have a private boat trip over to Capri, our pilot Sebastiano taking us to all the secret hideaways of the island and, en route back to Sorrento, we stop at a dreamy lagoon and swim in glass-clear waters.

Even so, it is lovely to return to our agriturismo. Ida’s dinners, spanning oregano-sprinkled mozzarella wrapped and baked in lemon leaves, to lemon risotto and tender braised rabbit, is Italian home-cooking at its best.

And the limoncello? We develop a deep love for the stuff, helped by the fact that we know it is truly homemade.